Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kaydel took a deep breath, her finger hovering over the ‘send’ button. Ten videos. Ten people who’d touched her life in ways she didn’t even know existed. And ten years. Ten years spent fighting, finding peace, and now looking forward to what the future had in store.

Each year and each person held a special place in her heart, and she trusted them all deeply, but it didn’t make sending the videos any less hard.

She looked over the first video. How had it already been ten years? She remembered the moment as clearly as if it were yesterday, the cramped feel of bodies packed into the Millenium Falcon , and the blanket of grief that had covered everyone in the ship to the point of near suffocation. But there had been the happier moments, too. Like in the video.

Like in all the videos.

They were a combination of joy and despair, love and loss, remembering the past and looking forward to the future. And here she was, living that future, sitting on the well-worn bed in her own home- not the drab, monotonous rows of bunks in the Resistance base -with her finger ready to pull the trigger that would finally connect that past to the future she’d dreamed of during all those long nights of the war.

Her present.

Just send the first video , she told herself. It’ll get easier from there . But a part of her knew it wouldn’t. None of them were eager to be reminded of the war, not so soon after it had ended. But that was why she’d done this, right? At least part of the reason. She wanted her friends to remember that it hadn’t all been terrible. There had been moments of loss, yes- so much loss -but also moments of hope, however small.

Kaydel finally let the pad of her finger press down on the glowing button. One video sent. One person down.

She had no idea how long it took her to send them all. Some were easier than others. Some took a little while to work her way up to. It probably took at least an hour, but time had ceased to have any meaning in the little bubble she’d created.

Finally, finally , she reached the last clip. But no amount of self-encouragement could get her to hit that tiny button, to send the final piece to the puzzle of her heart.

Kaydel’s hand moved almost before her mind reached a decision, and she shut off the datapad.

This video had to be dealt with differently.

Chapter Text

Rose checked her datapad, taking careful note of the slowly increasing numbers in the top corner. Supplies were steadily being unloaded from the transport carriers, but it was taking a long time. Worse, no one would let her pitch in. Apparently she wasn’t allowed to get her hands dirty, solely because she was the supervisor of the project. And the rest of her crew was annoyingly adamant about this. Not that she didn’t love them all like a second family, but seriously.

“Are you guys sure I can’t pitch in?”

“We’ve got this, Major Tico,” her second-in-command called back, a wide grin spread across her face. A former stormtrooper, the woman had been ecstatic when Rose had first given her the position. Back when the Resistance-First Order treaty was still new, many soldiers had been reluctant to trust members of the opposite side.

Rose Tico had absolutely no time for that kind of bantha dung, and she’d made a point to be vocal about it. It was probably the only reason her requests for missions like this one had been approved- most of the new government officials weren’t sure whether to be grateful to her or terrified of her.

At first, her team had been one of the only truly mixed squadrons, but she’d learned during the war that stormtroopers weren’t monsters- they had been trained to be ruthless killers, but under each black-and-white helmet was a human being. Her second-in-command, Feyre (the name she’d chosen for herself), was living proof of this- she’d stuck by Rose through thick and thin, and the two were as close as sisters.

However, Rose had forgotten one thing about having a sister- Feyre was as protective of her as Paige had been. That was kind of their thing; she and Feyre were each other's protectors. But sometimes Feyre acted as if she owed Rose a debt, and it made her guilty. She had chosen Feyre for her team because she was kind, empathetic, and honest. Feyre owed her nothing, despite the woman’s insistence. It was definitely one of the more frustrating parts of working with former stormtroopers.

A loud buzz drew her out of her thoughts, back to the dusty worksite that would soon become a shelter for those displaced by the war. Her datapad displayed a bright notification: someone had sent her a message.

Who would be messaging her during a mission? Not Poe and Finn, they already checked in with her during their nightly holocalls. Not Armitage either, they’d already chatted earlier. She tapped the notification and stumbled back a step. What?

“Everything okay, Major?” Feyre, observant as ever, had noticed her shock. Sometimes she knew Rose a little too well. When she didn’t answer immediately, the former trooper pressed further, dropping the formality. “Rose? You alright?”

“I...I’m fine.” She stared at the message again. From Kaydel Ko Connix. Kay. I almost forgot about her...her last name isn’t even Connix anymore, isn’t it? “I just need to sit down for a minute.”

“Go ahead. We’re not going anywhere.” Feyre shot a glance to the rest of the team; everyone offered nods and salutes and confirmations that they’d still be unloading cargo when she returned.

“Thanks Feyre- and I will be helping you guys when I get back.”

“You wish!” Feyre called after her, and Rose stifled a smile.

The ship she and her crew currently called home was stationed only a few minutes away from the worksite, and she made sure to close the ramp behind her, despite the fact that she had no idea why she felt she should be secretive.

A video from Kaydel Ko Connix. Lieutenant Connix, a woman she hadn’t seen in years. She didn’t even know what Kaydel was doing with her life, now that the war was over. The two of them had been so close during the war...but life had led them in separate directions as the new government rose.

Well, there was no harm in watching the video. If Kaydel was contacting her after ten years- at least two or three of which had been spent without seeing each other once -she could at least see what it was about.

A shaky hand points the camera at a gray blanket. After a few seconds, a voice mutters ‘oops’, and the camera flips to reveal the face of Lieutenant Kaydel Connix.

“Hey Rose, if you’re seeing this, it’s officially been ten years since I took this video. Anyway...this is just a little something I put together.”

She covers the camera with her hand. The video ends, before transitioning smoothly to a new setting. Kaydel removes her hand from the camera. The camera is pointed at Kaydel and a grease-stained, younger, Rose.

“So with me, I have Rose Tico, but I guess you know that,” Kaydel says, grinning.

Rose looks over at her, confused. “Who knows me?”

“I’m sending this to you. In ten years, give or take a couple months.”

“So what am I supposed to do?”

“Anything, I guess. You’re actually the first person I’m filming, so I’m not exactly sure how this’ll go, but no redoing it. It has to be genuine.”

“And how many people are you videoing?”

“I don’t know yet. Maybe ten?”

“So ten years, ten people?”g

“Yeah, something like that.”

“Interesting. So do I talk about...myself? I mean if you’re sending it to me, I’m probably going to know everything already.”

“Just talk about the war. And after it. What you want to do. Just so you can remember what it’s like.”

“Remember what it’s like during a galactic war?” She attempts a smile, but it quickly dissolves. “I don’t think I could forget this if I tried.”

“Same...but you should remember the fun stuff, too. Sooooo…” she draws out the word until Rose rolls her eyes and laughs. “Tell me. What do you want to do after the war? Government work?”

“No. No way .” Rose stifles a laugh. “That sounds terrible .”

“So what sounds...not terrible?”

“Maybe working as a mechanic. It’s fun, but it took a while to get the others to respect me. So maybe not. Somewhere I still get to build things, definitely. But also something that’ll help the galaxy. Maybe animal rescue centers? Paige used to talk about those all the time, I know she’d love it if I started one. Maybe a rescue center on Canto Bight, to help the fathiers?”

“The racing animals you and Finn met? Back when you were searching for the codebreaker?”

Rose winces. “Yeah, the codebreaker. I really regret that. Not trusting Admiral Holdo. I really don’t know how I got caught up in a mutiny like that...we were just looking for a way to turn off the tracker, and then...everything happened.”

“Yeah.” Kaydel’s face falls. “I miss them. Everyone we lost.”

“Same here. Every single day.”

The two women share a moment of silence together, lost in thought. Finally, Rose speaks up again.

“No one else is gonna see this, right? You won’t show anybody ?”

“Just you and me. And maybe a few porgs, cause they’ve taken over my bunk.” The attempt at humor falls flat- both of them know why she’s being so secretive. “So...feel free to say whatever you want.”

Rose takes a deep breath before she begins, arranging her thoughts. “I think I’d like to figure out where Arm and I want to go.”

“Armitage?”

“Yeah. I’d like to figure out where our relationship is gonna go, and if we want to actually...well, actually tell other people outside our friend group. As in, telling the galaxy. I’m sure the gossip holos would have a field day. General Hux and a Resistance mechanic. In a relationship. I mean, even being friends with someone on the other side would be big news.”

“I’m sure it wouldn’t be that bad…” Kaydel winces. “Yeah, you’re right. They’d have a field day. There’s no good way to say it.”

“Yeah...and that’s if we can reach a truce.”

“You mean if one side wins?”

Rose nods. “I just hope the galaxy can find a truce. If the First Order defeats us, or we beat them...either way...I mean, one of us would end up dead, Kay.”

“Yeah.” Kaydel winces again. “Well let’s just say, for the sake of hope and this video, which is supposed to have some happiness along with the sadness, that we reach a truce. And you two reveal your relationship status to the galaxy, which goes just fine, and everyone’s okay with it. What next?”

“Is this a way for you to get me to admit I want to have kids? Because yes, one day, I would like to start a family. It just...right now, getting married, having children, all that doesn’t even sound real. It’s something that could only happen in a different universe entirely, not here. Not to us.” She smiles wistfully. “But maybe someday. When we’re not enemies.”

“Thank you, Rose.” For once, Kaydel is completely serious. She nods toward the camera. “Anything else you want to say?”

“I think I’m good. Thank you. For letting me talk about this. And...and for reminding me why we’re fighting.”

“Save what we love, right?” The two women share one last smile, before Kaydel reaches towards the camera.

A hand covers the camera. After a few seconds, the video ends, the screen going completely dark.

Rose stared at the screen. Oh . She could hardly recognize her younger self, despite the fact that she looked the same in the video as she did now. She’d really wanted to be a mechanic? Rose could understand the appeal- she still loved machines with all her heart, it was just that now there were other things in her heart. Other people. Like Feyre, and the rest of her team. She couldn’t imagine her life without them, just like she couldn’t imagine not building shelters and working with her unit. But if she’d made a different choice...she could easily be working as a mechanic. She could easily be working to start an animal rescue center- her current job wasn’t far off from that, really, she was building centers, but for humans, not animals. Amazing how such a small detail could change the course of a life.

Her former self’s concern for the secrecy of their relationship was still too relatable. Even after years with the treaty in place- how many years was it now? Four? Six? -First Order/Resistance relationships were uncommon. Friendships were thankfully plentiful, but even the handful who had managed to find love across the lines were afraid to make any relationship even remotely official. She and Armitage were lucky that Poe and Ben had spoken for them after they’d announced to the galaxy that they were in love.

And thank the force for the treaty, because the video had reminded her of one thing in particular: their relationship could have just as easily gone in far worse directions, ending with the two of them spurned by the majority of the galaxy, or even with one (or both) of them dead.

Rose looked up. In the distance, she could spot her team working, trading jokes and light jabs. And even farther away, on another planet, the love of her life waited for her to come home.

In the ten years that had passed since the video was filmed, she’d made so much progress. And in the years to come, she hoped to help shape the galaxy into a place no longer ravaged by war or separated by labels of stormtrooper or rebel , but bound by the Force, and the harmony she’d managed to find in her own life.

Chapter Text

Finn keyed in the code to the apartment, trying to keep his disappointment from showing. The door slid open to reveal darkness.

“Poe, I’m home,” he called, stepping inside and flicking the lights on.

No response. Kriff . He was probably still at work. Rebuilding an entire government system wasn’t easy, Finn knew that, but he wished Poe would spend more time at home.

BB-8 rolled into the room at top speed, bumping affectionately against Finn’s leg. “Hey buddy, have you heard from Poe today?” He reached down and rubbed BB-8’s dome-shaped head like one might pet a tooka cat.

He’s staying late at work , BB-8 replied, head dipping sadly.

Of course he is… “Guess it’s just us tonight. Anything happen while I was at work?” The answer would most definitely be no, but he needed something to distract himself from the disaster that had been his work day.

It had taken months to put together the database that was supposed to help stormtroopers find their biological families, but when he and the handful of other former troopers had tested it out, the entire system had short-circuited.

Now would be a great time for Rose to be here . He and Poe made sure to call Rose every night; she was constantly traveling the galaxy on her mission to build shelters for civilians who’d lost their homes to the war, and when she wasn’t working, she was at home with Armitage, her love. There was little he wouldn’t give to see both of them in person again, instead of from halfway across the galaxy in a tiny hologram. Especially now, when her knowledge of machines was needed most.

You got a message from Lieutenant Connix , BB-8 chirped, brightening significantly now that he wasn’t focused on Poe’s absence. The astromech droid wasn’t exactly welcomed in the new government’s building, as people kept tripping over him. He was far from happy with the ban, for it cut down the amount of time he could spend with Finn and Poe to almost none.

“Kaydel? Really?” Now this was something he had to see. He and Kaydel had been pretty good friends back during the war (she’d covered for him and Poe often when they’d needed privacy for a date), and in the year or two after the treaty was signed, but the two of them had chosen different paths. Finn’s had taken him to Coruscant with his husband and droid-child, while Kaydel’s had led her far from bustling cities and messy politics. “What did she say?”

She sent media.

He’d learned that ‘media’, at least from BB-8, usually meant a picture or a video. What would Kaydel have to send him? A picture of… what? “Alright…” Finn made his way to the kitchen, where his and Poe’s shared datapad could usually be found. The second he turned it on, the notification popped up: You have a message from Kaydel Ko Connix. He had no idea what the message could contain… but it wasn’t like he had anything else to do. When Poe worked late, he worked late. He pulled up the message. “A video?”

BB-8 offered the droid equivalent of a shrug.

Finn made a quick cup of caf, then made his way over the his and Poe’s bedroom. BB-8 trailed along behind him, complaining about the late hours Finn and Poe had to work. He couldn’t help but chuckle at the droid’s anger. BB-8 was nothing if not… creative. “I know, I know. I don’t make the rules, BeeBee.”

The droid muttered one final insult before settling beside Finn, as eager to see the video as he was. Finn set the datapad in front of them both, turning on the video.

The video begins, and Lieutenant Kaydel Connix appears onscreen. Quiet giggles can be heard in the background, and Kaydel quickly presses a finger to her lips. The laughter stops, and Kaydel’s attention turns to the screen.

“Hi, Finn. I know it’s been a long time. Ten years, to be exact. Ten years ago, we recorded the video you’re about to see.” She smiles. “Enjoy?”

Finn sat back, watching the screen with new interest. Ten years ago… that was during the war. While some of the day to day details had begun to fade, he could still remember the horrors all too clearly. He couldn’t imagine why Kaydel would want to show him a video from one of the darkest times that galaxy had faced.

Kaydel reaches towards the screen and the video transitions into another. Kaydel and Finn are sitting in front of the camera, younger versions of their current selves. But the dark circles under their eyes reveal just how much the war has aged them. Finn has Poe’s jacket draped over his shoulders, and he’s looking at Kaydel with a confused expression.

“What do you want me to say?”

Kaydel laughs. “Anything you want. Anything your future self should know about the war.”

Finn grimaces. “It… it’s horrible. I don’t think I’m ever going to forget this. Right now, a First Order attack destroyed most of the climate control on base. Everything in the medbay is freezing over. The rest of the base isn’t much better. Rose has a team trying to fix the heat, but they’re not sure how long it will take.”

Kaydel nods slowly. “Do you think it’ll ever end?”

“Once Rose fixes things.”

“The war, I meant.”

“Oh. I…” Finn hesitates, worry and hope flitting across his face. “I want to believe it will end soon.”

“How?”

Finn pauses, thinking his answer through. “The Resistance has hope. Maybe not numbers, maybe not firepower, but… it’s like Poe said. We are the spark.”

“And we’ll burn the First Order down,” Kaydel finishes, a sad smile playing across her face.

“Maybe not all the way.” Finn glances offscreen, in the direction of the door. “There have to be other troopers like me. I know I can convince them to see the First Order’s wrongs.”

“That’s what you want to do after the war?”

“Yeah. I want to help stormtroopers.”

“Anything else? Anything personal?” Kaydel’s smile speaks volumes. She knows what Finn is about to say before he says it, they both do.

“Poe and I have talked about what we’ll do after the war. Poe wants to keep flying, and he wants to rebuild the Republic. Those have been his goals since he joined the Resistance.”

“And you?”

“I want to help troopers. And… Poe and I agreed we’d like to try out a normal relationship. We’ve only known each other during the war. I… don’t know if I’d be very good at normal life.”

Kaydel grins. “I don’t think any of us are.”

“You have experience, at least.” She nods, waiting to see if he’ll continue on the topic. “Everything I learned about life was from the Order. When this ends… I want to try, but Poe deserves someone who knows how relationships work.”

“Poe’s not exactly a master of relationships either, you know. He went out with Zorii Bliss for a few months and it ended in complete disaster.”

“I’ll have one shot to show Poe how much he matters… what if I ruin it?”

Kaydel appears a little shaken by the sudden turn, but she’s taking it in stride. “Poe’s all about second chances. Isn’t that why we’re here?”

Finn shrugs, smiling awkwardly up at the camera. “I hope Poe and I work. I hope we can adjust to normal life after the war. I hope the war ends. I just… don’t know if it will work out.”

“It will.” Kaydel punches his shoulder affectionately. “You two always work things out.”

“Yeah.”

“Anything else you want to say?”

“No.” Finn looks up at the screen one last time, staring directly into the camera. “That’s everything I need to remember.”

The video ends.

Finn stared at the dark screen, unable to tear his gaze away. Had he really been so worried about his relationship with Poe? Sure, living with Poe officially had taken some time to get used to. Abd they’d both had to adjust to a life without the worry of being woken in the dead of night by blaster fire. But he and Poe had made it work. And their wedding… Finn couldn’t remember a time when he’d been happier. It had been a ‘simple’ affair, according to the holonews, but to Poe and Finn, the ceremony filled with close friends and near-constant smiles and laughter had been everything . Especially when only a few years before, such a wedding had been a wild fantasy. And his and Kaydel’s easy friendship. Had they really been that close? He still remembered her fondly, but as more of a distant acquaintance. In the video, they appeared to be thick as thieves.

The arrival of the video was slowly bringing back a flood of memories. Rey, one of his closest friends. They were still in touch, of course… but now he was remembering the two of them slowly adjusting to Resistance life. She’d been stunned by the easy access to food, while he’d had a hard time adjusting to the overall messiness of the base. And the antics he and Poe had gotten up to… especially Poe’s affinity for pulling little pranks on his crewmates and dragging Finn along for the ride. Force, he’d forgotten how close they’d all been. Friendships had been different when they were all hunkered together in the crumbling Resistance bases scattered throughout the galaxy. Not quite easier, but they’d required less, shared more of themselves.

BB-8 beeped sadly, leaning against Finn’s leg. “I know, buddy. I miss Poe, too.”

Finn leaned back against the soft pillows piled onto the bed, twisting the wedding ring on his finger absently. Poe would probably trudge into their apartment hours later, exhausted from a long day. He would stumble his way through the dark rooms and fall into bed. They’d get a few hours of sleep together, and the next day they would start the routine all over again. It was lonely at times, but there was comfort in knowing that Poe would always come home. It was far more than they’d had during the war. He was endlessly thankful for that.

Still. Maybe he could convince Poe to take a few days off. He’d been working almost nonstop lately, they both had. Maybe they could visit Kaydel and her new family. Maybe they could bring everyone back together. Rose and Rey, Finn’s stormtrooper friends, Poe’s squadron. It had been far too long since he’d seen any of them.

Maybe the the war was over, and maybe there were countless horrible things he wished to forget. But the video had reminded him that not all of it had been horrible… and maybe he could look back and remember the good. Starting with his closest friends from the war.

Starting with his family.

Chapter Text

A sharp ping drew Rey from her half-trance; she tore her eyes away from the vast fields of stars outside the Falcon to see which part of the ship was breaking down this time. But the blinking light didn’t seem to indicate any type of danger. In fact, written on a slip of paper next to it in cramped handwriting (even the great Han Solo hadn’t been able to remember the meanings of every button and switch) was a single, harmless word: message . They were far from pirate routes and galaxy politics;  even if the message was a threat, it would be one easily handled by two force-sensitives.

Rey sighed, tamping down the fear swelling in her heart. Or, her old instincts from the war were talking again, telling her to find fear in every unknown contact. “Ben!”

Footsteps echoed through the ship, and whatever tension was left from her fear of an enemy threat disappated. She turned to find her other half standing in the doorway to the Falcon’s cockpit, a smudge of grease mirroring the scar across his face. A grin tugged at her lips before she could stop it.

“Hyperdrive’s fixed,” he offered, ducking aside as she moved to brush away the grease. “What’s broken?” The Milennium Falcon was nothing if not consistent. Each time they managed to repair something, another part broke down.

“Nothing. We have a message.” Another ping sounded from the console. “Two messages.”

“Devi again?”

“Maybe.” After setting out across the galaxy to find and teach the handful of force-sensitives left, they’d somehow managed to run across a team from Jakku: Devi and Strunk, the duo who’d double-crossed her when she uncovered one of the first intact ships found on Jakku in decades. But they’d been willing to make amends, and when Devi had heard about their goal, she’d immediately offered to chip in and use her contacts to help them. It was uncomfortable at first, working with her former betrayer. But they were figuring things out, getting used to being a team. The same could be said for herself and Ben. They’d never officially announced their relationship to the galaxy for fear of old loyalists threatening violence, but after the peace treaty had settled the majority of the fighting, Rey and Ben had disappeared. The Falcon had been their home ever since, and their goal to find and train force-sensitive children to embrace both the light and the dark sides of the Force.

Due to the First Order’s onslaught against said force-sensitives, the goal felt more and more unreachable with each passing day.

A few taps on the control panel pulled up the two messages.

You have a message from Kaydel Ko Connix.

You have a message from Kaydel Ko Connix.

“Kaydel?” Why was Kaydel messaging them? And more importantly, how? Only a select few people knew how to contact them… and if one of said people had let Kaydel in on the secret, these two messages were something important. Something big.

Had Kaydel found a force-sensitive?

Rey leaned against the pilot’s chair, heart racing. No, she couldn’t get excited too quickly. The rush of hope wouldn’t be worth it if the fall crushed the ever-shrinking amount of spirit she had left. Besides, Kaydel had packed up and moved far away from the bustling cities after the war; she’d left almost faster than Rey and Ben had. Last Rey had heard of her, she’d settled on a sparsely populated planet and begun a life far simpler than the one they’d led during the war. Force-sensitives would be hard to come by. Two— one for each message —couldn’t possibly be anything but a spice dream.

Still, the messages had to be somewhat important. And it was the first outside contact they’d had in months… couldn’t they let their guards down just a little? Rey plopped down in the pilot’s seat, pulling a clunky old datapad from its discarded place on the floor. Not exactly the neatest setup, but there was nowhere else to store the thing and a possibility that it could be needed at any time. She busied herself with transferring the messages onto the datapad- the device had been Han’s, and it certainly wasn’t getting any younger. The first message began loading at a slow crawl; at this rate, the second wouldn’t be done until later that night. Or the traveling-through-space equivalent of night. Ben took the seat beside her, messing with the console’s controls. She didn’t need the bond to tell they were wondering the same thing: What could Kaydel have found that’s important enough to risk contact?

They waited in tense silence as the message slowly loaded onto the datapad. Ben set the console to delete both messages after the transfer was completed, but that only took a few minutes. Rey’s fingers drummed nervously on the seat, nervous energy shooting through her at the thought of bad news. Was someone in trouble? One of her friends sick or injured? She’d thought the losses would end with the war, naively so. Rey hadn’t been prepared for the grief that came with leaving her friends in both the Resistance and the First Order behind to go into hiding.

A soft chirp pulled her from her worries, announcing the completion of the first transfer. The Falcon echoed with a pulsing light; the transferred video began the process of slowly being deleted from the ship’s system. And Rey and Ben sat back, the datapad held between them as she pulled up the message.

“A video?” Ben was the first to put their shared confusion into words.

“Whoever gave her our comm channel trusted her. It has to be something.” Her finger hovered over the ‘play’ button, unsure. Old fears clamped down on her heart, warning her that the contents of the video could be terrifying, exactly what they were trying to hide from. During the war, she’d seen countless vids and images of the destruction wrought across the galaxy. Ben’s hand slipped into hers. You’re spiraling again , he reprimanded through the bond.

She pressed play.

Kaydel sits onscreen, a few years older than she was the last time Rey remembers seeing her. Older, yes, but far less weathered by the stress of the war and the peace treaty that followed it. She seems far more comfortable in her body and her life, nodding happily offscreen, presumably to the camera’s operator. Then she shakes her shoulders slightly to compose herself; when she looks up at the camera again she is all business.

“Rey. I know you must be worried right now, Armitage told me your contact was for emergencies only. Everyone here is fine, and I don’t have any important intel for you.”

Rey stared at the screen, searching Kaydel’s digital expression for some kind of clue. Armitage had given her access to the secure comm channel, and he was nothing if not practical and stoic. He wouldn’t let her send the video without solid reasoning, and a lack of emergency was… well, it wasn’t exactly a good reason to risk contact.

“Ten years ago, you helped me make the video you’re about to see. It’s from the war, yes… and I know sending this is dangerous, but a promise is a promise, and I promised to send you this. I hope you understand.” She smiles slightly at the camera, the expression understanding and familiar. “I hope you’re safe, wherever you are. And Rey… you’ll always be welcome here, with us.”

The video ends, transitioning slowly into a new clip. Rey is perched nervously on a crate of cargo onboard the Millennium Falcon , a good decade younger than she is now. Her hair is unkempt, wisps falling out of the triple buns keeping it out of her face. She looks…lost, yet comfortable. It’s clear that every part of her knows this ship, yet she keeps glancing awkwardly at the camera or looking over her shoulder. Kaydel moves into the frame, plopping down beside her and clearing her throat. Physically, she’s younger, but the war hangs over her and ages her decades past her true age. Rey looks over at the other woman, expectant. “What are we doing?”

Kaydel pulls her knees up to her chest, spinning to face Rey. “It’s a video about you. You can talk about your life right now, and in ten years, you can watch it again to remember… your life, I guess.”

“No one else will see it?”

“Just you.”

“What if…” Rey trails off. “What if I’m not…around?”

Kaydel hesitates, understanding immediately. The war has taken so many lives… and who knows who will be next? “I planned to send it to family, but…” She shrugs sheepishly. “I can delete it.”

“Significant others?”

“Hmm?”

Rey looks over her shoulder again. “Could you send it to…to someone like that?”

Kaydel mulls over it for a only a second before she nods. “Of course.” With that settles, she quickly moves on. “Tell, uh, you about yourself. About your life. Everything.”

She twists her hands in her lap, sifting through the multitude of things to talk about. “The war is still going. It doesn’t look like it will ever end, not right now. I’m hopeful, though.” A smile tugs at her lips, and she’s able to look at the camera for the first time. “We’ve been talking about a peace treaty. It’s unlikely, but it could hold. Everyone is so tired of fighting… a union would be a new, peaceful solution.”

“Who’s been talking about it?” Kaydel prompts lightly.

“Well, right now just a few of us. Rose, for one. Rose Tico. And, um. Ben. I know we shouldn’t even be meeting, we’re at war, we’re on different sides-”

Kaydel shrugs. “I don’t care. Just say whatever feels right.”

“It does feel right. I don’t know if you could call it a relationship, but our…relationship, it feels right. That’s why I want to present this peace treaty to the galaxy. So we don’t have to hide anymore, and so this war doesn’t end with a losing side. In the past, ex-Imperials were executed or imprisoned. If the Resistance lost, or the First Order…” She looks away from the camera, unable to resist another glance over her shoulder. “I have people I care about, now. It’s new. I don’t think I do a good job of it.”

Kaydel actually grins at this. “Let me tell you, you could be doing a lot worse.”

“I guess. It’s different, having people worry about you when something happens.”

“Different how?”

“Just new. I don’t mind it, though. It’s… nice.”

“Yeah, you can say that again.” Kaydel glances at the camera. “Anything else you’d like to say? Any hopes for the future? Dark secrets? Regrets?”

“No regrets. I’m glad I left Jakku. I’m not waiting for my family to come back anymore… and I have a new family now. It makes living through the war worth it.” Rey thinks for a moment. “I told you my only secret… and I hope Ben and I can make it through the war. Maybe figure things out together after the fighting is over. I want to learn more about the force, and help others learn.” She grins widely. “And I want to learn to swim.”

Both women laugh, Kaydel smiling wistfully. “Force, it’s been so long since I’ve been in water.”

“Don’t say that! Next thing you know, the whole base will be flooded.” They share another laugh; it’s common knowledge that the base is constantly breaking down, almost as much as the Falcon . Resistance soldiers have gotten humorously superstitious about this, some claiming that a prediction of another part malfunctioning will be enough to cause it.

“And on that note…” Kaydel reaches for the camera.

The video ends.

Rey’s hands gripped the datapad tight, afraid that if her grip loosened so would her hold on the bittersweet tears threatening to fall. Force , in a few short years she’d already forgotten how her life had really been during the war. Harsh and violent and terrifying, but laced with moments of life and love that had made surviving truly worth it. Rose , her partner in crime, the first person she’d shared the secret of the force bond with. How had she forgotten just how much Rose meant to her? The emergencies-only contact they’d established had stolen away too much of their relationship. Rose and Finn had been the first people to offer her friendship when she arrived on the Resistance base, and she’d let time isolate her from them. Suddenly Rey could barely keep herself from reaching out to them, sending messages, anything. She’d been so lucky to be able to stay with Ben  after the war had ended; the two of them making it out alive was nothing short of a miracle, really. She’d known just how lucky she was… but seeing her younger self expressing her hopes and dreams had brought all of it rushing back to her at once. Buried deep inside her heart throughout all the months of searching had been a wish to see her friends again, and the video had turned that feeling into a physical ache. Would it be so dangerous to visit? Check in on the people who had never failed to do the same for her? Did she and Ben really have to be so afraid of the wrath of the fledgling government? They had people who would protect them, stand by them.

Seeing the rest of the family she’d found herself a part of during the war, even one last time… it couldn’t be so dangerous that they couldn’t attempt it, right?

And even if it was? Force, during the war she’d risked everything to spend even a few moments with her friends in the First Order.

Rey already knew it would be more than worth it.